RELATING TO COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSES; AMENDING THE NEW MEXICO COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE ACT TO BRING NEW MEXICO INTO SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT OF 1986, AS AMENDED; ADDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF OUT-OF-SERVICE ORDERS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 66-5-54 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 14, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-5-54. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act:
A. "commerce" means:
(1) any trade, traffic or transportation within the jurisdiction of the United States between a place in New Mexico and a place outside of New Mexico, including a place outside of the United States; and
(2) trade, traffic and transportation in the United States that affects any trade, traffic or transportation described in Paragraph (1) of this subsection;
B. "commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the motor vehicle:
(1) has a gross combination weight rating of more than twenty-six thousand pounds inclusive of a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten thousand pounds;
(2) has a gross vehicle weight rating of more than twenty-six thousand pounds;
(3) is designed to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver; or
(4) is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous materials, which requires the motor vehicle to be placarded under applicable law;
C. "employee" means any operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including full-time, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent or occasional drivers; leased drivers; and independent owner-operator contractors, while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle, who are either directly employed by or under lease to an employer;
D. "employer" means any person, including the United States, a state or a political subdivision of a state or their agencies or instrumentalities, who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns employees to operate such a vehicle;
E. "gross combination weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, gross combination weight rating shall be determined by adding the gross vehicle weight rating of the power unit and the total weight of the towed unit or units and any load thereon;
F. "gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle;
G. "out-of-service order" means a declaration by an authorized enforcement officer of a federal, state, Canadian, Mexican or local jurisdiction that a driver, a commercial motor vehicle or a motor carrier operation is temporarily prohibited from operating; and
H. "serious traffic violation" means conviction of any of the following if committed when operating a commercial motor vehicle:
(1) speed of fifteen miles or more per hour above the posted limits;
(2) reckless driving as defined by Section 66-8-113 NMSA 1978 or a municipal ordinance or the law of another state;
(3) homicide by vehicle, as defined in Section 66-8-101 NMSA 1978;
(4) injury to pregnant woman by vehicle as defined in Section 66-8-101.1 NMSA 1978 or a municipal ordinance or the law of another state; or
(5) any other violation of law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, that the secretary determines by regulation to be a serious traffic violation. A serious traffic violation does not include vehicle weight and vehicle defect violation."
Section 2. Section 66-5-58 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 14, Section 7) is amended to read:
"66-5-58. EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY.--No employer shall knowingly allow, require, permit or authorize a driver to drive a commercial motor vehicle during any period:
A. in which the driver has a driver's license suspended, revoked or canceled by a state, has lost the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle in any state or has been disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle;
B. in which the driver has more than one driver's license as of the effective date of the provisions of the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act; or
C. in which the employee, the commercial motor vehicle the employee is driving or the motor carrier operation of the employer is subject to an out-of-service order."
Section 3. Section 66-5-65 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 14, Section 14, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-5-65. CLASSIFICATIONS--ENDORSEMENTS--RESTRICTIONS.--
A. Commercial driver's licenses may be issued with the classifications, endorsements and restrictions enumerated in Subsections B, C and D of this section. The holder of a valid commercial driver's license may drive all vehicles in the class for which that license is issued and all lesser classes of vehicles except motorcycles and vehicles that require an endorsement unless the proper endorsement appears on the license.
B. The following classifications shall apply to commercial driver's licenses:
(1) class A - any combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating of more than twenty-six thousand pounds, if the gross vehicle weight rating of the vehicle or vehicles being towed is in excess of ten thousand pounds;
(2) class B - any single vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than twenty-six thousand pounds and any such vehicle towing a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand pounds or less; and
(3) class C - any single vehicle or combination of vehicles that does not meet either the definition of Paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection but is:
(a) designed to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver; or
(b) used in the transportation of hazardous materials, which requires the vehicle to be placarded under applicable law.
C. The secretary, by regulation, may provide for classifications in addition to those set forth in Subsection B of this section.
D. The following endorsements and restrictions shall apply to commercial driver's licenses:
(1) "H" - authorizes driving a vehicle transporting hazardous material;
(2) "L" - restricts the driver to vehicles not equipped with airbrakes;
(3) "T" - authorizes driving a vehicle towing more than one trailer;
(4) "P" - authorizes driving vehicles, other than school buses, carrying passengers;
(5) "N" - authorizes driving tank vehicles;
(6) "X" - represents a combination of the hazardous material ("H") and tank vehicle ("N") endorsements;
(7) "S" - authorizes driving a school bus; and
(8) "K" - restricts the driver to driving a commercial motor vehicle in intrastate commerce only."
Section 4. Section 66-5-70 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 14, Section 19) is amended to read:
"66-5-70. RECIPROCITY.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who is not a New Mexico resident may drive a commercial motor vehicle if that person has a commercial driver's license issued by any state in accordance with the minimum standards established by the federal highway administration for the issuance of commercial driver's licenses, if the license is not suspended, revoked or canceled and if the person is not disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle or subject to an out-of-service order."
Section 5. A new section of the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act is enacted to read:
"PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF OUT-OF-SERVICE ORDERS.--
A. A driver who is convicted of violating an out-of-service order shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) or more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), in addition to disqualification as provided in Subsection C of this section.
B. An employer who is convicted of a violation of Subsection C of Section 66-5-58 NMSA 1978 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more than one hundred dollars ($100).
C. A driver who is convicted of violating an out-of-service order shall be disqualified for:
(1) not less than ninety days or more than one year if the driver is convicted of a first violation of an out-of-service order;
(2) not less than one year or more than five years if, during any ten-year period, the driver is convicted of two violations of out-of-service orders in separate incidents; and
(3) not less than three years or more than five years if, during any ten-year period, the driver is convicted of three or more violations of out-of-service orders in separate incidents."
Section 6. APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act apply to commercial driver's licenses issued on or after January 1, 1998.
HB 133
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